We demolish arguments and every pretension
that sets itself up against the knowledge of God,
and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:5
But we have the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:16
The scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz was a likable but pitiful character.
No brain...well, a brain of straw. Fortunately, he at least knew he
had straw for a brain and had both the desire for a real brain and the
courage to go in search of one. His plight is not so different from
those who are held captive to carnal thinking. Before Christ, our minds
are trapped in the world's thinking, and we do not understand the
things of God.
There were so many miracles that took place when I opened my heart to
Christ over 50 years ago. But one instantaneous transformation was new
spiritual thinking...a new mind to see, understand and love God's
truth. I had grown up in a whole family of pseudo-Christians who
adhered to a false religion. Thankfully, we were nominal in church
attendance so I didn't get a steady diet of their lies. Looking back I
know that God was protecting our family, preparing all of us to see and
know the truth. Even as a young girl, I sensed that what I was being
taught in church was error. Quite honestly, it didn't make sense.
Sitting under the gospel message I heard the full truth about Christ, my
sin, and the way to salvation and I knew...I just knew this was it!
This was truth and I was set free! I embraced Christ as Lord and Savior
and have been amazed by his presence in me all these years.
At salvation we are given the Holy Spirit who begins a mighty work of
transformation within us. He not only changes our hearts...He changes
our minds. Suddenly we see things from a spiritual...a truth
perspective. Throughout our lives God is constantly, consistently
working to transform us and draw us closer to Him, to make us more like
Jesus. It is an incredible truth to me that we are given the mind of
Christ. I fear that much like the research that says we only tap into a
fraction of the power and potential of our physical brains, many
Christians don't access the power of Spirit with us, within our minds.
We still allow the trappings of the world to have influence over us.
The only protection is to daily fill our minds with God's truth. When
we seek His wisdom we are thinking with the mind of Christ. When we
look at life, circumstances, what the world say through the lens of
Scripture, we are thinking with the mind of Christ. When we fear,
worry, doubt...we are letting the world creep in. We have to pull out
any remnant of our old straw brain...and fill our heads with all that is
God's truth. Only then will we really be free of the captivity of this
world.
Design Details:
This is the 100 Days of Bible Promises book by Illustrated Faith. I'm
skipping around in it as I find the themes and messages that I seek to
illustrate. Shanna Noel, author, really hit this one square on. Her
devotional thoughts and scriptures always reflect the truth. They are
very sound and very well written. I highly recommend this book if you
don't already have it. I used the newest stamp set from Sweet 'n Sassy
Stamps called, Happy Scarecrow by Krista Hamrick. It's an adorable set
and so versatile. I stamped the scarecrow on white cardstock, then
stamped parts of the image on various designer papers to be able to
paper-piece the scarecrow. I also stamped the flowers from the set on
cardstock and colored with Copic markers. Then I adhered to the page.
Since Copic markers will bleed through these pages, it's perfect to just
do them on cardstock first, then fussy-cut and color off the page
first. I also used Sunshine Girl and Cold Coffee Alphas for the larger
lettering. I used a variety of acrylic paints, stencils and texture
stamps to add color and dimension to the page.
Oh, yes! This is just WONDERFUL, Diane! Thank you very much! :o)
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